Exercise & Depression— Are You Up for It?

Paying attention to how much better you feel after physical activity will help you stick with it.

By Wendy Toth

Forget the pluses that spring to mind when you think of exercise—that it lowers cholesterol, reduces the risk of chronic illness, helps you lose weight, and builds muscle.

Those long-term benefits are too far removed from the hard work they require to keep most people motivated. Add in depressive symptoms like apathy and zapped energy and the “booty bootcamp” DVDs you ordered start making great coasters.

Instead, remember this: Exercise boosts your mood almost immediately.

“Paying attention to the fitness benefits alone means you have to persist for months” before seeing a payoff, says Michael Otto, PhD, a professor of psychology at Boston University and co-author of Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being.

“But when you reframe your focus onto the mood benefits, you get rewarded for your efforts, on average, 5 minutes after completion of exercise.”

In other words, reminding yourself that you’ll feel better after a little physical activity can help get you into your sneakers and out the door—especially when fatigue is dragging you down.

“If you don’t have the energy to exercise and think you’ll start when you feel up to it, you’re actually thinking along the lines of having a headache and deciding to take an aspirin in a week,” says Jasper A. J. Smits, PhD, director of the Anxiety Research and Treatment Program at Southern Methodist University and Otto’s co-author on Exercise for Mood and Anxiety.

Pick a passion point

Of course, it’s easier to keep up an activity if there’s something about it you like.

“We want you to pick an exercise program that gives you the most joy and sense of play,” says Otto, “something engaging.”

Richard G., a 43-year-old immigration lawyer from Huntington Beach, California, started a running regimen because he loves Disneyland. Growing up in southern California, the self-described Disneyphile had always associated the theme park with happy times.

Richard has been dealing with major depression and anxiety since he was diagnosed at 27. Exercise wasn’t one of his coping tools, but overeating was—especially in response to the stresses of his law practice. But when he discovered the Neverland 5K run through Disneyland, he thought it sounded fun.

Before paying a $100 registration fee for the January 2012 race, he read the fine print: Disney would remove any runner who didn’t maintain a 16-minute mile. Richard had “a completely sedentary lifestyle,” he weighed 367 pounds, and the race was only five months away.

A friend recommended Couch to 5K (C25K), a training program of walk-and-jog workouts designed to get out-of-shape people running three miles (or 30 minutes nonstop) by the end of nine weeks.

“Now I had a desire and a plan, and that made me dangerous,” Richard recalls.

As he followed the C25K program and started to eat better, he not only lost weight but started to feel lighter in spirit.

“My clothes began to get bigger, and my mood stabilized. My regular trips to ‘the dark place’ were replaced with trips to a treadmill and the streets of my town, usually in pre-dawn darkness,” explains Richard, who has dropped nearly 70 pounds so far.

“My symptoms fell away like drawing back a curtain,” he adds. “It was quite dramatic and completely unexpected.”

Finding your passion point—the Disney factor, if you will—can carry you through the crucial 12 weeks (on average) it takes to make something a habit, says Smits.

For instance, if you love reading, Smits suggests working out to a book on tape. If it’s a TV show, watch it on the treadmill at the gym.

I always feel better after I’ve done something active. Exercise is not such a hardship.

Or build a dual purpose into your workout, says Claudia Reardon, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a sports psychiatrist who specializes in exercise as a treatment for mental illness.

“Walk to the gas station every Sunday morning to get your paper, walk your dog, or walk to the grocery store,” says Reardon. “You’ll find it easier to carve out the time if you are getting something else done too.”

Set up for success

It’s also important, Smits says, to make your environment friendly for working out. Smits himself exercises at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He paves the way by laying out his exercise clothes on the dining room table the night before.

“I’m able to dress and be in the car without even thinking,” he says. “These little things you can do … to make it easier, to take that step and get going, make a big difference.”

An even bigger factor is setting the bar low enough to guarantee immediate success. Overambition is your enemy.

“Many people aim too high at first, overdo it and get injured, or get disappointed and think they can’t exercise anymore,” says Smits.

Sedentary individuals are often advised to start with just 10 minutes of walking a few times a week. If necessary, think even smaller to get some momentum: stand up to stretch during TV commercials, say, or make an extra trip up and down the stairs once a day.

Nothing is too trivial here. The point is to find something, anything, that you can actually accomplish at the physical, mental and emotional place you’re in now. Then feed yourself positive reinforcement to help your successes snowball.

It helps to create an action plan full of specifics, then monitor your progress.

“I nail down the details of an exercise plan with my patients by giving it the same attention a plan for medication would get,” says Reardon—including which days of the week they will exercise and at what time. “Doing something at the same time of day makes it more likely to turn into a habit.”

Then, she says, “I have my patients buy a big wall calendar and use a big black Sharpie to put an X through the days they exercise. Seeing that X is really satisfying.”

When you notice multiple Xs missing, think hard about what’s keeping you from success. For example, says Reardon, you may just be craving variety.

Above all, don’t look at a skipped day here or there as total failure and give up altogether. Even someone as pro-exercise as Lucy G. doesn’t always work up a sweat.

“If I really don’t feel like it, I give myself permission to have an ‘off day’” Lucy admits, “but I’ll still do something physical, like deep breathing or yoga.”

Lucy, a 60-year-old grandmother from Corbeil, Ontario, was first diagnosed with depression in her 30s and quickly realized the connection between exercise and improved mood. She varies her routine with walking, running, weight training, aerobics, and even Hula-Hooping.

“My motivation is my granddaughter. I want to be a cool grandma and do fun things with her,” she says. “You have to find something fun to do, otherwise you won’t keep it up.”

In the short term, Lucy adds, “I always feel better after I’ve done something active. Exercise is not such a hardship.”

Monitor your mood

Keeping track of how exercise improves your mood helps you stay hungry for more, Otto says—especially when depressive symptoms make staying on the couch all too easy.

“If you remember the payoff from the last time you worked out, then the usual reasons to skip become the reasons to make the workout happen,” he explains.

Otto recommends jotting down your pre-exercise mood on a scale of 0 (feeling awful) to 100 (feeling great). After you work out, rate your mood again.

Frederick Woolverton, PhD, a clinical psychologist with practices in New York City and Fayetteville, Arkansas, has patients keep a simple journal.

“First, I’d ask you to write down how you feel right now, then exercise every day for a week and write down how you feel at the end of each day, then again at the end of the week,” he says. “Your own writing will tell the difference.”

As extra reinforcement, Woolverton also recommends finding someone you have to answer to, whether a personal trainer or an exercise buddy.

“It is too easy to procrastinate, to skip a day, unless you are accountable to someone,” he points out. “Also, a trainer or coach or friend can cheer you on.”

It’s definitely important to celebrate your accomplishments, whether that’s walking around the block or finishing a 5K. That little boost in self-worth often turns into the courage we need to keep moving forward.

Just ask Richard, who finished the Neverland 5K in 35 minutes and 23 seconds (that’s a hair over an 11-minute mile). He is now on the “Bridge to 10K” training program, with an eye on bigger things.

“I’ve already plunked down $150 for the Disneyland Half Marathon,” he says. “And I am in a much better mental place.”

Steps to success

Record: Write down your goals, making them realistic (something you can reasonably accomplish) and as specific as possible (walk 10 minutes at lunchtime three times a week).

Respect: Treat your exercise plans just as you would a doctor’s appointment. Mark the scheduled times in your calendar or appointment book, then follow through. If you have to cancel, reschedule right away.

Review: Revisit your goals every two weeks, checking off what you’ve accomplished.

Rethink: For any days you missed, ask yourself what got in the way. Write down each obstacle (forgot my sneakers, too tired) and brainstorm solutions (keep a second pair of sneakers in the car, exercise earlier in the day).

Sources: Dr. Merv Gilbert and The Antidepressant Skills Workbook.

Goals for gratification

When it comes to getting more active, don’t worry about how little you’re doing—as long as you’re doing something.

“It’s important to be fair and realistic about your goals,” says Merv Gilbert, PhD, RPsych, an occupational health psychologist in Vancouver and a contributor to The Antidepressant Skills Workbook. “If you haven’t been to a gym in a long time … maybe going to the store to buy some sneakers is a good first step.”

That’s why experts come up with suggestions like parking your car further away from the mall. That’s a manageable and practical way to add extra steps to your day, even if you can’t walk the recommended 30 minutes three times a week.

So ask yourself this: What can I actually get done that will move me forward?

Long-term goal: Start a yoga practice.Today: Research types of yoga and decide whether you want to try an active “flow” class or prefer props and a slower pace.
Long-term goal: Jog a mile.Today: Drive to the high school track and walk one lap.

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